Trees are ubiquitous. They are a natural part of our landscape and valued for the beauty they provide (not to mention the environmental benefits) as well as their lumber and economic value. Landowners often value their trees, but when a landowner needs to remove trees for development tensions can arise between the government’s interest in preserving and protecting the environment and the landowner’s inherent property rights ...
Late Friday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued an Order and Opinion lifting the stay that previously had been entered by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit which had prevented the OSHA COVID-19 emergency technical standard (the “ETS”) that applied to employers with 100 or more employees from going into effect ...
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently signaled its intent to prioritize prosecuting individuals who commit corporate environmental crimes ...
The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) will have significant impacts on brand owners and might offer new tools and procedures for challenging blocking trademarks and problematic registrations for those willing to take advantage of the new law. The TMA was passed by Congress in December 2020 before the USPTO announced the final Rules for implementation on November 17, 2021 ...
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made several recent announcements signaling its intention to increase antitrust merger enforcement under the leadership of Chairperson Lina Kahn, appointed by President Biden. Some relate to the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) pre-merger notification requirements, which apply regardless of whether a transaction is substantively reviewed by the FTC or the Department of Justice (DOJ) ...
In a long-awaited policy announced in an October 28, 2021, speech at the ABA Institute on White Collar Crime, the Department of Justice has embarked on more aggressive enforcement of white collar and corporate prosecution. During the Trump Administration, such prosecutions reached historic lows, but that is about to change. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced significant changes to DOJ policies on corporate enforcement ...
In a move that should significantly ease traveling to the United States, the Biden Administration has announced plans to withdraw COVID-related geographic travel restrictions in early November ...
On Monday, September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released several markups of proposed legislation (the “House Tax Proposals”) intended to pay for various proposed spending initiatives. Importantly, the House Tax Proposals are not entirely consistent with the “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2022 Revenue Proposals” (the “Green Book”) released by the U.S ...
Today, the Ninth Circuit upheld California’s new law (AB 51) barring arbitration provisions in employment contracts.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other organizations challenged the law in federal court. The district court enjoined the law, ruling that it conflicts with the Federal Arbitration Act. A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. Judge Lucero, a Tenth Circuit judge sitting by designation, wrote the majority opinion (joined by Judge Fletcher). Judge Ikuta dissented ...
Employee Retention Credits (“ERC” or “credits”) are available to eligible employers that paid qualified wages after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2022. Multiple pieces of legislation and Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) guidance expanded and modified the ERC rules and determination of eligibility for ERC, and computation of the credits may vary based on each individual calendar quarter in 2020 and 2021 ...
We are still waiting for the “official” SBA FAQ announcing the withdrawal of the Forms 3509/3510 Loan Necessity Questionnaire (“Questionnaire”) that, according to the SBA, will include additional information about its review process. In the meantime, PPP lenders have been told by the SBA that they no longer are required to request that borrowers who obtained loans of $2 million or more complete the Questionnaire ...
Shortly after the passage of the CARES Act, the SBA announced that it would be auditing every borrower with a PPP loan in excess of $2 million. What is meant by 'audit’ remains to be seen ...
With SEC Form 10-Qs for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, due shortly, and SEC Form 10‑Ks for companies with June 30 year ends due in the next few weeks, publicly traded companies that received PPP loans, even those that have had those loans forgiven, need to review and update their SEC disclosures regarding their PPP loan ...
In a move that will allow greater flexibility for traveling to the United States, the State Department recently announced National Interest Exceptions (NIEs) issued to foreign nationals in the last 12 months who are covered by COVID-related Presidential Proclamations (PPs) will now be valid for 12 months, rather than the previous 30-days. In addition, these NIEs will allow for the ability to use them for multiple entries during the new validity period ...
